Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Position in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 457,109 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,810 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $12,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,127,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,154,000 after acquiring an additional 128,583 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 16.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,457,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215,936 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,566,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,630,000 after acquiring an additional 253,558 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,149,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,558,000 after acquiring an additional 17,049 shares during the period. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 21.0% in the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 2,913,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,669,000 after acquiring an additional 506,593 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 3,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $126,994.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,803 shares in the company, valued at $123,141.14. This represents a 50.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

CDP stock opened at $32.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.91. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $26.91 and a one year high of $33.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 2.85 and a current ratio of 2.85.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $200.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.10 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.730-2.790 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CDP. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.88.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP) is a real estate investment trust organized to own, lease and manage healthcare and life science facilities serving the United States federal government, with a particular focus on Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs tenants. The company was formed in 2016 through a spin-off from Corporate Office Properties Trust, enabling it to concentrate exclusively on medical office buildings and specialized research facilities situated on or near military and federal research campuses.

The company’s portfolio comprises purpose-built, Class A medical office and outpatient specialty clinics, as well as life science laboratories.